Software threat to HIPs Launch
May 18, 2007 at 1:12 pm | In UK, energy, environment, hips, politics | Leave a CommentAccording to The Times:
… faulty software has thrown many of the training programmes for energy inspectors into disarray. It emerged yesterday that IT programmes to measure home energy ratings have failed to analyse the correct data.
One estate agent told The Times that a huge number of energy inspectors will have been trained on faulty software. Although two suppliers have had their software approved, two others — Property Tectonics and Northgate — are said to be still waiting, two weeks before the deadline on June 1.
Critics, including the Consumers Association, said yesterday that pilot schemes to test the packs had not been evaluated and that the proposal should be delayed for at least a year.
The Government is facing a legal challenge over the plan after the announcement by Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) that it was seeking a judicial review regarding a lack of consultation.
The latest problems came amid reports of a row between Ruth Kelly, the Communities Secretary, and Yvette Cooper, her deputy, over the Home Information Packs. Mrs Kelly wanted to scale the proposals down, but this was strongly resisted by Ms Cooper, the Housing Minister, who reportedly threatened to resign.
Portsmouth’s new stadium
April 30, 2007 at 8:03 am | In design, development, planning, portsmouth | 1 CommentA day after the death of legendary English footballer (and former Pompey coach) Alan Ball, Portsmouth FC (aka Pompey) announced plans for a new stadium and residential development comprising 1,500 apartments in the cities docklands area.
The design by famed architects Herzog & de Meuron – the award winning team behind Beijing’s Olympic stadium – will be to submitted by Portsmouth City Council for planning approval later this year, with construction expected to start in 2008 and last for three years.
The development is backed by Sellar Property Group, the company behind London’s Shard of Glass, which has yet to break ground for development.
[images via Dazeen.com]
The waterfront development will create a superb 36,000 all-seater stadium, over 1m sq ft of apartments together with a mixture of complementary leisure uses, including restaurants and cafes, and a 1.5 acre new public realm.
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The club and Sellar are forming a joint venture company in which both Fratton Park and the new waterfront development will be held, enabling appropriate development finance to be secured to complete the overall project. The creation of the residential and commercial elements of both schemes will contribute to the development.
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Planning applications for the proposed development will be submitted in the autumn, following consultation with stakeholders. Subject to receipt of the necessary consents, work could get underway by Summer 2008, and construction of the new stadium the following year. It is anticipated that Pompey will be playing in the new stadium by 2011.
NO PUBLIC PARKING
The proposed scheme is in the great tradition of English football stadia that have historically formed an integral part of their communities and social urban fabric. Location of the new stadium remains within the city of Portsmouth where more than three-quarters of the club’s fan base lives.
To this end the development’s sustainability and green credentials are underlined by the stadium’s location which will ensure the majority of supporters arrive by public transport. Apart from parking for club officials, players and VIPs, there will be no public parking as part of the scheme. However there will be sufficient parking to satisfy the demands of the residential element of the scheme.
Yes, there is such a thing as a zero-carbon house
March 26, 2007 at 5:23 pm | In UK, design, environment, gordon brown, politics | Leave a Comment
last week, in his annual budget speech, UK Chancellor and soon to be Prime Minister Gordon Brown, announced to the nation that from October 1st 2007 all new zero-carbon homes costing up to £500,000 will pay no stamp duty and zero-carbon homes costing in excess of £500,000 would receive a £15,000 stamp duty tax reduction.
Unsurprisingly, Browns announcement was greeted with heavy skepticism and nobody I spoke with seemed to had ever seen or even heard of a zero-carbon house; but alas, we can reveal that – yes – there is indeed such a thing as a zero carbon house!
Spotted this weekend at the Birmingham Property Show, the “Eco Pod” boasts that it can “reduce energy requirements and costs by up to 90%, producing virtually no CO2 emissions”
But wait … there’s more …
According to the website, the Eco Pod does not need planning permission “in the majority of cases” , yup, you heard right; all you need is “a flat firm (hard standing or concrete) level surface … and we will do the rest.”
And at prices starting at a meager £45,000 (waay under stamp duty), the EcoPod may be the answer to a lot of problems, or may indeed be the creation of a whole new set of problems, depending on who you speak to … who knows, maybe the guy who invented it will build a £500,000 model, so we can at least get some satisfaction we’re beating the government, whoopee, cant wait for that to happen !
mySociety launches Neighbourhood Fix-It
March 9, 2007 at 7:59 am | In UK, politics, technology | Leave a Comment
From the people who brought you the very useful TheyWorkForYou.com (check out the Nestoria implementation), mySociety launched the impressive Neighbourhood Fix-It earlier this week.
How it works
Basically Neighbourhood Fix-It uses maps supplied by Ordinance Survey enabling people to report, view, and discuss local problems in their neighbourhood and also to report problems to their local council by simply locating them on the map. The service is post-code specific, free to use and currently available only in the UK. As a registered charity, mySociety is accepting donations, however Neighbourhood Fix-It was developed via a grant from the Department for Constitutional Affairs Innovations Fund.
Introducing BrightSale.co.uk – Estate Agency 2.0
January 15, 2007 at 10:20 am | In UK, agents | 2 Comments
I remember the first time a geek friend of mine introduced me to Business 2.0, the influential magazine, shortly after launching, I guess maybe 5 or 6 years ago. I remember getting really excited, read a few issues and shortly after, my excitement faded I went back to reading FT and WSJ for business news. Now today the term “2.0″ is all over the place. Of course Web 2.0 is the daddy but there’s other terms such as “Real Estate 2.0″ (apparently trademarked by Redfin; who unceremoniously shut down a blogger last year for using the term); Technology 2.0 and there’s even websites claiming to be “Sex 2.0“.
So it comes as no surprise that a new property website has quickly coined the phrase “Estate Agency 2.0″. Truthfully, the only thing “2.0″ about Brightsale.co.uk is the RSS feed; surprisingly the service has no map integration which has become standard in all 2.0 property websites. Nevertheless, in true geek style, Brightsale is offering a version of their site for the Nintendo Wii users (http://wii.brightsale.co.uk).
Exciting stuff, but how long the excitement will last.
EU interest rates
January 11, 2007 at 3:03 pm | In UK, bank of england, economy, interest rate | Leave a CommentBoE raises 0.25 percent to 5.25%, but the ECB holds steady at 3.5%, causing the euro to once again strengthen against the dollar.
From the BoE press release:
In the United Kingdom, output continues to rise at a firm pace. Domestic demand has grown steadily and credit and broad money growth remain rapid. The international economy continues to grow strongly.
Sterling has risen and oil prices have fallen back. But the margin of spare capacity in the economy appears limited, adding to domestic pricing pressures. CPI inflation was 2.7% in November. It is likely that inflation will rise further above the target in the near term, but then fall back as energy and import price inflation abate. Relative to the November Inflation Report, the risks to inflation now appear more to the upside
The REIT advantage
January 2, 2007 at 8:20 pm | In UK, investment, reits | Leave a CommentUK Real Estate Investment Trusts (Reits) launched officially yesterday. The Guardian has an FAQ on how they function, quoting Stephen Herring of BDO Stoy Hayward saying that not only does a Reits investor avoid paying corporation tax and capital gains, can also avoid paying tax on their dividend income if their shares are held, say, in an ISA or a self invested personal pension (SIPP). The Guardian claims some experts argue that property market is peaking and investing now might prove to be a mistake, despite the attractive tax breaks.
Ipswich Murders
December 13, 2006 at 1:20 pm | In UK, crime, london, politics | Leave a Comment
It’s amazing that with all the CCTV cameras, Congestion Charge camera’s and British people being the most watched on earth, that something like this is happening. Maybe if the government spent a bit more resources monitoring the streets instead of policing parking tickets, we could avoid these tragic events from happening.
Robust economy points to further interest rate rise in the New Year
December 12, 2006 at 5:56 pm | In UK, economy, housing market, research, rics | Leave a Comment
The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) issued this assessment report on the UK’s property market this afternoon:
Early November saw one of the most well flagged changes to interest rates since the Bank of England (BoE) became independent. After August’s interest rate rise, which took the markets by surprise, everyone expected interest rates to continue their journey upward. In the statement accompanying the decision the BoE mentioned volatile but rising consumer spending, rising business investment, strong economic growth in UK export markets and the rapid increases in broad money and asset prices as the reasons behind the interest rate hike. With economic conditions still firm, further rate hikes in the New Year are likely.
Commercial property
Occupier demand in the commercial property market expanded into October as output in both the service and industrial sectors continued to firm. Rents in the retail and industrial markets have shown some belated signs of improvement in October, indicating that a rental trough may have now passed. Annual office rents rose 4.6% in the year to October with retail at 3.5% and industrial rents at 1.3%.
Construction
The construction sector continued to boom as we moved into the fourth quarter, with the general picture continuing to be one of robust expansion. The construction industry grew by 0.6% in Q3, pushing the annual growth rate to the highest level in over a year at 1.7%, as the booming residential and commercial property markets weighed more decisively on activity levels than the August interest rate rise.
Residential property
The latest figures from RICS show that house prices rose for a twelfth consecutive month in October, up at the fastest pace since September 2002. The strongest rises in prices are in London and the South of England on the back of a booming City economy. The November rise in interest rates to 5% will help cool the housing market, and at the same time promote economic stability.
RICS – December 12 2006
Scandal: Rightmove selling tax details to government
December 4, 2006 at 2:00 pm | In UK, rightmove, tax | Leave a CommentAccording to the Daily Mail Rightmove.co.uk has inked a deal with the UK tax office giving tax officers access to its database of properties, including sale prices and floorplans.
The information from the website, used by about 8,000 independent estate agents to advertise their clients’ properties, will be integrated into the £40million database the VOA has purchased from US firm Cole Layer Trumble to help it revalue homes nationwide. It is feared this will lead to tax bills rising by up to 400%
[via BricksnClicks]
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